Chris: Whew….Finally an update for this. Boy, I'm really lagging on all my fics. Crap. Anyway, reader reviews and then the chapter! Oh, and italics are for flashbacks. Italics and single quotes are thoughts.

Miharu-san: Heh, thanks for the compliments and….Yeah.

generic reviewer: Yes, Ninian and Nils are still dragons (or mamkutes) in this fic.


Chapter 3: Comrades in Arms and Magic

Lyena rushed out of the magic academy, looking behind her as soldiers rushed to man the walls. She desperately wanted to help them, but Lucius had told her to find the group of mercenaries that she would have to travel with. She checked her belongings, which consisted with a couple of changes of clothes, some magic tomes, and a few jars of healing salve. Lyena looked around, and found a small group of people chatting nearby. 'I guess they could be the group I'm searching for. They have weapons…' Lyena ran up to them. "Are you guys the mercenaries that were hired by Master Lucius?"

"Yeah. That's us." A man with long, light-purple hair grinned. "I assume you're Lyena?"

Lyena nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"Good. Let me introduce you to the members of our motley group." The man waved a hand to the other people there. "I'm Legault, the unofficial leader of our little mercenary group. Oh, and if you need to know the name, we're officially known as the Windslash group."

"And we're known as the Jackasses unofficially! Although I think that's very rude of the people who hire us." A girl with pink hair tied in ponytails shouted out. Legault sighed.

"And this cute, little devil here is Serra, our healer." He pointed to a red-haired man next. "And that's Raven. Doesn't talk that much, but he's a great swordsman and great at planning tactical strategies." He leaned closer to Lyena and whispered, "His real name is Raymond, but he chose Raven because it sounds cooler."

Raven nodded at Lyena. "Nice to meet you."

Legault pointed at the last three members of the group. "That's Rebecca, our resident archer." A girl with green hair waved at Lyena and smiled. Legault pointed at a teenager that was wearing a bandanna. "And that's Rebecca's brother, Dart. He's sort of a roguish pirate, but he's still a great fighter with those twin axes of his." Dart winked at Lyena. "And finally, we have a ninja, as she calls herself."

"I am one, you know!" A girl with long, light-yellow hair yelled out indignantly. She was wearing a tattered dark-red scarf, a loose gray shirt, and black shorts. Over it she wore the top-half of a kimono, and had a red ribbon tied to her hair. "Just because I'm not that good doesn't mean I'm not one!"

Legault waved her protests down. "Of course, Aylnia. Anyway, that's everyone on our motley little crew. Glad to see you're joining us. Now, did Lucius give you any idea where a weapon could be located?"

Lyena scratched her head. "Well, I think he said that there was one hidden in a temple nearby. Around the mountains, I believe."

Legault smiled. "Well, let's get going, shall we?"

Lyena nodded. "Right. Ah….But before we go…Can you just wait here for a while? I've got…someone to see."

"I understand. But get here soon. The battle seems to be getting too close for comfort." Legault nodded and motioned for everyone to stop. Lyena bowed out of gratitude and raced for the cave that housed her friend. When she arrived there, Lyena found Sylea sobbing over the album she had given her.

"Sylea…?" The mage peeked her head out at her friend, who looked up, startled. Sylea smiled in relief when she found out it was only her friend.

"O-Oh…Hi Lyena. I was just…Uh…" Sylea looked at the floor. "Just remembering old times."

"Hehe, listen to yourself. You sound like an old lady." Lyena let out a chuckle. Her friend laughed and placed the photo album to the ground.

"I guess you're right." She brightened. "Hey, did you find anything about the curse?"

Lyena scratched the back of her head. "Um…No. I'm really sorry. And…I have to go leave on a journey to pick up some legendary weapons, as Master Lucius calls them. So…Uh…I'm really sorry…But I have to go!" She ran outside, wiping her eyes. Sylea watched her best friend leave and sat on the floor again.

"Oh…I see. Good bye then, Lyena." She half-heartedly waved farewell to her friend, even though Lyena wasn't able to see it. 'I guess then I'll just be alone tonight for the full moon…Oh well. I wouldn't have wanted anyone to see me anyway…Right?'


"You're ready, right?" Legault looked at Lyena, who had just returned.

"Yeah."

"Then let's head off!" Legault waved to the rest of the mercenaries, and they all traveled for the temple, searching for the legendary weapon which was said to have been stored there.


Back in Bern, Matthew's group was searching through the mountains for any sign of where the Fire Emblem could be hidden. Kent and Sain used their swords to slash away at any offending shrubbery, while Erk held a small fireball in his hands for light. It was getting dark, and they were having trouble seeing in front of them.

"Okay, looks like this is it. We might as well set camp here. No point in going on." Matthew shook his head. "At least we got some ground covered." He sighed. Matthew had really hoped that they would have been able to enter the town of Calran before nightfall. Unfortunately, thanks to a couple of errors in judgment, they had legged behind considerably. So they were forced to wait outside till tomorrow before they would be able to enter the town and get information.

"Whew…That was tough." Sain slumped to the floor, releasing the reins of his horse.

Kent nodded and tied his horse, as well as Sain's, to a nearby tree. "Yes, especially when someone here decided to see what would happen if you throw a javelin into a cave. What kind of logic was that?"

Sain grinned. "Well, we might have been able to find someone there! Of course, the mountain lion was a bit unfortunate…"

"Unfortunate?" Erk's eyes widened. "Unfortunate? You've got to be kidding me! I almost died!" This was partially true. After they had figured out that the inhabitants of the cave definitely weren't friendly, the group had tried to flee from the angry mob of lions. And Erk, since he wasn't as speedy as Matthew or Wil and he didn't have a horse like Priscilla, Sain, or Kent, was forced to send fireballs to discourage the lions from trying to eat him.

"I said I was sorry!" Sain placed his pack on the ground. "Anyway, since we'll be staying here, what do you guys want to do? Other than the obvious response of eating."

Priscilla and Wil walked up, looking extremely tired. "I've got a suggestion. Let's sleep." The troubadour rubbed her eyes and laid a blanket on the floor before collapsing on it. Wil stayed on his feet for a couple of more seconds before following Priscilla's example.

Kent stood. "I better get first watch. Sain, you'll be second. Matthew?"

"Last watch is fun with me." Matthew smiled. "So, what are we going to do now? Our cook is asleep."

Erk sighed. "Don't tell me its dried rations again."

"Okay. I won't tell you. It's dried fruit rations now." Matthew's eyes sparkled mischeviously. Erk gave a long sigh.

"That's soooo much better." He pulled out a small packet of trail rations. "I wanted real food. Magic is tiring."

"Awwww….Does the little magey-wagey need a little sleepy-weepy?" Sain cooed to Erk, who leaned away from the cavalier.

"Umm…No. Now stop that. You're scaring me." Erk quietly munched on his food. "Hey Matthew. Give us some dinner music. No one will probably be able to hear us."

"Noooo problem." Matthew rummaged around his cloak and pulled out a small reed flute. He trilled out a couple of notes. "Any requests?"

Sain cocked an eye at Matthew. "Taking requests now? Just play the song you always play. But not too loud. We don't want to wake those two." He pointed to Priscilla and Wil. Matthew winked at the cavalier.

"I've got the perfect song." His fingers flew over the flute, playing a tune that drifted around the clearing. The song was cheerful, kind of like Matthew. The sounds settled around the sleeping forms of Priscilla and Wil while cheering up Erk, who closed his eyes so he could listen to the music better. Kent, who was practicing his swordplay smiled a little as he listened to the tune, and Sain was busy dreaming of finding a girlfriend. The brown-haired cavalier had his sights set on Priscilla at the moment, but the troubadour didn't seem to notice. Or, at least, Sain hadn't noticed that she noticed. But either way, Sain didn't know how she felt. But he was determined to find a way to win her heart.

Matthew continued playing through the evening, playing different songs and melodies until he had seen that everyone had fallen asleep. Wrapping himself in his cloak, the thief placed his flute back into one of its pockets and settled back for sleep.


Ninian looked through the windows of the abandoned house, looking at the desolate city. She turned when he heard someone walking behind her. "Oh, it's just you, Harken."

"Ah, yes, Lady Ninian." Harken walked up to the girl. "We must find some way to reclaim this town. But I don't think that the three…" He looked back at the room where Eliwood was moping. "That the two of us can defeat the soldiers Bern has stationed here in Worde." He shook his head. "We need some sort of symbol to rally the populace. I plan to stay here, trying to find of resistance. I want you to take Eliwood and find the legendary Blazing Sword, or Durandal."

"M-Me!" Ninian pointed to herself, completely shocked.

"Of course. Eliwood trusts you, and I believe you can shake him out of this little mood he's sunk into." Harken hefted the sword he wore on his belt. "Good luck. You two should leave right away. The Bern soldiers are beginning to search the houses to loot them."

"R-Right!" Ninian nodded and ran into Eliwood's room, where she found the red-haired lord moping at a desk. She sneaked up to him, not wanting to disturb him greatly. She shook his shoulder. "Lord Eliwood?"

"Hunh?" Eliwood looked up. "Oh, it's you Ninian….What do you want?"

"Come on! Harken has got a plan and we've got to go! He wants us to get Durandal! I know where it's hidden!" Ninian continued to shake him. "After all, my ancestors were supposed to be the ones that helped hide the legendary weapons in the world!"

"Right…Well, we might as well go." Eliwood stood up. "I might as well leave. I didn't do anything to help this city." He snickered. "Didn't help to do anything." He spat on the floor and walked off, his rapier clanking against his leg. Ninian hurried after the teenager, deeply worried about Eliwood's mentality.

As she left, she saw Harken saluting her. She quickly returned one of her own, curtsying slightly. Eliwood's voice resounded behind her. "Hurry up, Ninian! Like you said, we have to leave."

Ninian turned and saw Eliwood waiting for her. Harken gave a little nod and she dashed up to Eliwood, hoping that this journey might wake some of his spirit.


In Tania, Hector was having his own problems. A strike force consisting of berserkers and wyvern riders had suddenly attacked Tania, and now he was extremely busy trying not to die. He cursed loudly as a javelin flew past his head. "Dammit! This is not what I would call a relaxing time! Last time I ever come to Tania to oversee a project!" He swung his axe at an approaching wyvern, burying it in the wyvern's stomach.

"Lord Hector! Are you okay?" His retainer, Oswin, ran up, his heavy armor clanking around him.

"As fine as I'll ever be!" Hector threw his axe at a berserker and grunted as he saw it sink into his enemy's chest. He grabbed his reserve axe off of his back and looked at Oswin.

"Good." Oswin hefted his spear and plunged it into another berserker. He used his other hand to punch the berserker in the face and kicked the corpse off of his spear. "Wallace has taken Geitz, Dorcas, and Bartre to head off the main assault. We should be finished soon enough."

"Okay, that's good. Now let's get back into battle!" Hector plunged into a group of two wyvern riders. One of them dove down and pointed his lance at Hector's head, but the lord ducked, causing the lance to miss entirely. While he was beneath the wyvern, he used his axe to cut straight through the wyvern's stomach. The dying animal dropped behind Hector, tossing its rider to the ground, breaking the rider's neck. Hector spun around to see that the second rider had dismounted, and both the wyvern and the rider were planning to attack.

"Shit…" Hector readied his axe again and winced as he saw the scars and dents on it. He had used this axe to chop wood earlier, so the head wasn't as sharp as it could have been. However, it still seemed good enough to use in a brawling match, which this was.

"Lord Hector!" Oswin was at the blue-haired lord's side, holding his spear in an attack position. "I will get the wyvern."

"Fine with me!" Hector grinned and ran at the wyvern rider. He swung his axe at the soldier's head, but the wyvern rider leaned back, causing the axe to fly right over his head. The rider grinned and stabbed his lance at Hector's midsection, but luckily the lord's armor absorbed most of the blow, causing the spear to just knock Hector off balance. Hector stumbled from the force but was able to right himself in time to dodge the soldier's next attack. He swung with his axe again, chopping the lance shaft in half and leaving the wyvern rider with nothing for than a pathetic stick of wood. The rider shouted in anger and threw the stick at Hector, who blocked it.

"Now die!" Hector swung his axe, driving it deep within the man's stomach. He pulled back his axe and let the dead man fall to the ground. Hector turned to see that Oswin had already dispatched the wyvern and was trying to dislodge his lance from the wyvern's skull. He heard other people approaching and turned to see who they were. To his relief, it was Wallace, Dorcas, and Bartre. Wallace had a big grin on his craggy face, while Dorcas had a more solemn look on his own features. Bartre was shouting out in triumph, waving his axe in the air.

"Ha! No one defeats Bartre!" The fighter placed his axe on the floor, head first. He let out another shout of triumph. Hector smiled at the fighter's antics.

"So everyone is okay?" Dorcas looked at Hector, who nodded. He gave them thumbs up and pointed to himself.

"You know, those Bern guys must be pathetic if they were defeated by only five people! I'm just too good!" Hector let out a laugh. "Come on! The city should be intact! I'll treat you guys to dinner!"

"I'll drink to that!" Wallace lifted his spear in victory and the five of them walked towards Tania's tavern, telling each other stories of their battles.


Chris: Yeah…I think I have way too many groups. Maybe I should write a chapter for each individual group….Eh, I don't know. Oh, and for a little recap, here's a list of the groups so far.

Eliwood and Ninian: Searching for the Blazing Sword, Durandal. Near the outskirts of Worde.

Hector, Oswin, Wallace, Bartre, Dorcas: In Tania, working on a project to help win the war.

Lyn, Guy, Karel, Karla, Rath: Fighting in Sacae.

Lucius, (Pent, and Louise - not mentioned yet), (Sylea - hiding): Fighting against the Western Isles in Etruria.

Lyena, Aylnia, Legault, Serra, Raven, Dart, Rebecca: Searching for the legendary weapon in Etruria.

Farina, Fiora, Kiyuki: Fighting in Ilia.

Harken: Forming a resistance group in Worde.

Matthew, Sain, Kent, Priscilla, Erk, Wil: Searching for the Fire Emblem in Bern.

Lord Elbert, Lord Uther, Lowen, (Isadora - not mentioned yet): In Pherae, planning for the war.